Peter turned away from the window to look at her. Her eyes were half narrowed, and her lips compressed as she looked into the middle distance.
Nicholas fiddled absently with his cuffs. “He’s a Tory. He supported Pitt for prime minister. He has been painfully resistant to any calls to reform the courts, despite the backlog of cases and the shocking bureaucratic inefficiency of the system.”
“Not about politics,” said Selina. “What do you know ofhim? Eldon. What’s his name?”
“Lord Eldon? John, I think,” Nicholas said. “John Scott.”
“He’s from Newcastle,” put in Tagore. “You can hear his northern accent when he speaks.”
“What does he care about?” Selina asked.
“England,” said Nicholas. “And our sterling national character.”
Peter winced.
“Cognac, apparently,” said Daphne.
“Perhaps Stanhope could deliver him cognac?” suggested Selina. “Or—perhaps not. Mayhap we should avoid reminders of your past misdeeds.”
“They say he was a rotter at school,” Nicholas said consideringly. “A devil for pranks and truancy.”
“Is that right?” said Tagore, looking suddenly intrigued.
“And of course,” said Nicholas, “there was the matter of his wife.”
Four gazes fixed on Rowland with interest.
“Eldon kidnapped her. Quite famously.”
Selina’s brows climbed nearly to her hairline. “Hekidnappedher?”
“Well,” Nicholas temporized, “perhapskidnappedis not the word. He was a law student at Oxford, at home on school break, when he fell violently in love with the daughter of a neighbor. Both sides objected to the match—his parents wanted him to focus on his studies, and her family thought the son of a coal-fitter beneath them. They wouldn’t back down, and so Eldon removed her from her family home by way of a window in the dead of night, carried her off to Scotland, and married her on the morrow.”
“Now, that,” Selina said, “is something.”
“Do you think to appeal to Lady Eldon?” asked Daphne. “Does she live in London with the chancellor, Nicholas?”
“I believe so. I understand them to be quite a devoted couple.”
Daphne tapped an ink-stained finger on her chin. “Shall we have them over for dinner?” she asked. “Is that too transparent?”
“Not at all,” said Nicholas. “I’m happy to arrange it, Stanhope, if you like.”
“Yes,” said Peter. “Anything you think might help.”
“I like this idea,” said Selina. “I’d like very much to speak to Lady Eldon. But I wonder…” She trailed off, her fingers absently nudging the cup on her saucer again. “I wonder…” Her eyes came up again and fixed on Peter’s. He felt her gaze almost like a tug, pulling at him from across the room, and he took a half step toward her before he could stop himself.
“Call here again,” she said. “Tomorrow. I want to talk to Lydia Hope-Wallace first. And then I want to talk to you.”
She had something in mind. Peter was certain of it—not just from what she’d said, but by her eyes, distant with concentration, and the decided set of her jaw. She had an idea, and he knew her well enough to think it would be a good one.
He felt a sudden rush of warmth that he recognized as relief, because… Because for the first time since he’d learned that Lu and Freddie’s mother had died, Peter thought that the children might just be all right.
Although now that he thought about it, there was something about the stubborn angle of her head that reminded him a bit alarmingly of Lu.
“You don’t think I shouldkidnapthe children, do you?” he asked. “I mean, I would do it. But I’m not sure I’d survive the experience, now that Lu has a sword.”
“Um,” said Selina. “No. I do not think you should kidnap the children. I would… No. Certainly not.”
